Certain electrical connectors are known in which electrical terminals are terminated onto conductor wires and then inserted into terminal-receiving passageways of a connector housing from rearwardly thereof, remote from a manufacturing site and specialized tools and apparatus; the connector housing is of the type having passageways made to receive and retain therein a terminal having a selected diameter, in a manner which permits removal and replacement of each terminal if desired The terminals are secured along the housing passageways at a retention area located just rearwardly of the forward contact section of the terminal, and the retention area consists of forward and rearward stops axially spaced closely together. Certain ones of the terminals of that diameter are coaxial-type terminals, each one having an inner contact and an outer contact, and being terminatable onto an end of a coaxial cable, with the outer contact connected to the shielding braid of the coaxial cable; the terminals are substantially larger in diameter than the coaxial cables; and the terminal-receiving passageways for the terminals are therefore larger in diameter than the coaxial cables.
In such an arrangement one consequence is that the rearward portion of the passageway is substantially larger than the diameter of the cable, which extends therealong rearwardly of the terminal rearward end, and when the cable commonly is deflected to one side along the wire exit face of the housing prior to mating of the connector with a mating connector, the cable portion within the rearward passageway portion assumes a relatively severe angle with respect to the passageway axis until it encounters the side wall of the passageway along the wire exit face; the deflected cable pulls to the side the rearward end of the terminal to which it is affixed, resulting in the terminal assuming an angle with respect to the passageway axis. While female terminals resist being angled because the forward end of the receptacle contact section of each terminal in the respective forward passageway portion engages the passageway side walls, the male contact sections extend forwardly from the passageways in order to be able to enter the corresponding female contact sections, and thus are not angularly stabilized by structure of the housing when torque is applied by the respective cable. With one of the male contact sections being disposed at a severe angle from axial, the male contact commonly stubs against the mating connector housing or the forward end of the corresponding female contact, preventing connector mating and possibly damaging the contacts or the connectors, or permitting connector mating but forcing the stubbing terminal rearwardly along the housing passageway in a non-mated condition which may remain undetected. Female terminals may also be susceptible to severe axial misalignment because of bent cables if the forward housing passageway is axially short and does not sufficiently inhibit angling of the female terminal, or if the female terminals extend substantially forwardly of the housing mating face.
It is desired to provide assurance of axial alignment of the terminals disposed in housing passageways which are much larger in diameter than the cables to which the terminals are terminated.